Claiming Lucian (Let there be darkness) Yaoi Book 3

Chapter 13: Ciel

 I had always looked up to Lucius. He was a beacon of hope. He didn't care if his actions and his ideals were looked down upon by those higher than him; he prioritized those who had sunk at the bottommost part of the ocean, no longer trying to swim to the surface. He faced backlash from the kingdom headstrong, mocking those who preferred to watch the world burn down while believing that they wouldn't get affected by the turmoil.

'You can do it...chii.'

If it wasn't for him, I would still be in the chasm of hypocrisy, selfishness, and self-righteousness. I wanted to pay his kindness forward. I want this world to experience the same warmth that he made me feel. No one deserves to be alone.

No one deserves to live in darkness.

"Brother, I can't...fall down now," I murmured. "I have to...protect this child."

The child watched me with wide and unblinking eyes that had ceased crying just a moment ago. New beads of tears formed in his pale eyes. His breaths turned ragged, he stopped a sob from coming out fully, and stared up with profound fury and tenacity in his gaze.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

His voice produced soundwaves that shattered the maze above us, pushing back the army of corpses and causing them to clash and stick to the wall before falling limply on the ground. Cracks formed through the guardians' forms and the fires that illuminated the room were blown out briefly before coming back but in a different shade.

White fires erupted around us, shocking Nether. Someone landed from above, releasing ripples of winds that would have thrown me off balance if not for the arm that wrapped around me and the child.

"How dare you...hurt my charge?"

A swift sound of blade broke me free from the spears that dissolved into fine ashes. Raphael swiped down on my back, closing the wounds and providing immediate relief.

"He had it coming. I will not hold back on anyone who dares oppose me. I am the deity of these ruins. It is the only domain I rule. You, barging in here, is enough impudence."

Raphael stood, releasing a bubble from his palm that swallowed us and floated at the height far from the corpses or the guardians' reach. I peered at the angel who grasped his spear tightly, surrounded by creeping corpses and faced with a phoenix who was entirely different from Sparkles.

"Laying your filthy hands on him, do you think I'll let you slip that easily?" the angel threatened.

Gales gyrated around Raphael's feet.

"I am a shadow that exists even without light. Even if the world is consumed in darkness, I shall live on."

Raphael scoffed, rubbing his two fingers along the shaft of his spear. "The physics don't add up. You are flawed from the start. Let me show you the consequences for harming someone of perfection."

The angel's body was coated with scintillating light. We squinted and shut our eyes as if we had stared directly at the sun. He swung his spear, releasing a curve of luminosity that burned the corpses into cinders. Nether's fury erupted, his body burned brighter, overtaking the blaze that Raphael forced upon in his own room.

"My light is brighter than yours!!!"

Raphael leaped, the guardians aimed their spears at him, staking an illusion of the angel to the floor. For a second, Raphael vanished; he reappeared behind the guardians, flying towards Nether.